Policies
Here are our policies and rulings regarding both character and player behavior. This information can also be found in-game by using "news." Keep in mind that, while we try to keep this wiki up to date, if something here conflicts with what the in-game news files say, the news files supercede the wiki. Player and Staff Conduct Policies 'Adult Content' We trust that you have common sense and aren't afraid to use it, but, please don't be inconsiderate towards other people when it comes to posting adult content. Yes, this is the World of Darkness, but there's a difference between writing about adult and mature themes between consenting adults and being an inconsiderate and petty person. If someone asks you to stop, then stop, and find someone else to RP with. If it becomes an issue (on either side of the exchange), you can always send a log to byrightofbloodstaff@gmail.com. 'Conduct' We follow the Role Player's Creed by Calista of ImagineChat. Here it is in pill-form: *Withhold OOC comments mid-scene until they are necessary or appropriate. *Keep OOC knowledge OOC. *Understand that IC actions are not personal. *Use the Channels or OOC lobby to chat instead of interrupting RP. *Do not use your character as a vehicle for your personal bigotry/sickness. *Discuss issues with players privately and in a calm, adult manner. *Accept the hand dealt to you IC and understand that RP is not about winning. *If you are upset, come back when you feel better. It's a game. *Carrying grudges against other players based off of IC actions is asinine. *Badmouthing/slandering someone you dislike only makes you look bad. *If your character is killed, that sucks, but it's not the end of the world. *Whether or not you are "right" pales in comparison to whether or not you are pleasant to RP with. Let people play their characters the way they want. Even if it's stupid. They'll find like-minded RPers, and you'll find yours. In addition we have our own expectations in regards to staff: *This game is staffed by unpaid volunteers. Expect to receive the same level of courtesy and respect that you give them. *If a staffer is dark (does not show up on the "who" or +who list), do not page them. You can communicate through @mail and +request. 'Conflict' Harrassment And Related Issues: If you feel that you are being harrassed, stalked, or threatened as an individual person, document it. Keep a record of any of this activity, and keep printed copies in addition to digital copies because some of the activities that someone else may be doing against you might be considered unlawful. The printed copies won't be of any impact within the scope of staff at this game, but it's handy to have in case a sitution escalates. If you feel a site ban is necessary to keep someone away from you on this game, then please let us know and we will arrange it. However, past a site ban, we can not help you in your situation. You might need someone who is fit to sort out legal implications to take any other action past having the individual sitebanned from this game. Do not be afraid to reach out to staff for help in learning what you can do to stand up for or protect yourself. Personal OOC Disputes: If you feel that you are being antagonized wrongfully by another player, it is your responsibility to first stand up for yourself and notify that person that there is an issue. Nobody on this game but you is responsible for your conduct: you are an adult who is capable of courtesy, civility, and common sense. If you have a problem you wish to forward to staff based off of an issue between your and some other person's inability to get along like adults, you can send it, but you may just be told that you should be grateful that you can waste your time on pettiness on an online game of pretend. 'Consent' Consent is effectively your right as a player to not have anything done to your character that you don't want to have done to them. However, consent does not apply to any natural consequence of your character's actions. IC actions lead to IC consequences, period, and staff will not protect you from your actions. There are no consent levels or safe zones in this game. In general, before you do something to someone else IC, you should ask. It's only polite, but if your character makes enemies, that is their personal problem. That being said, Consent is REQUIRED for situations in which a character is not online or given an opportunity to respond to the IC events unfolding (such as through +jobs). Staff may elect to negate the deaths of characters who are killed as unintentional, collateral damage depending on the nature of the situation and its OOC implications. This is up to staff discretion and usually given thanks to players getting sucked into a plot they didn't know even existed until they were dead, such as a ductus using his packmates as meatshields for IC actions he's been withholding from their knowledge. 'OOC Masquerade' Staff does not care about what information players will release about their own characters at all (just remember that you are responsible for your own actions in character as well as out of character and if your eagerness to give yourself away causes you problems, they are your problems). If you talk about another person's character in a manner that causes a personal problem with that character's player, however, then we do care because not listening to other peoples' requests is inconsiderate, and we have Come To Jesus talks with inconsiderate people. 'Player Killing' We as staff are not going to protect you from your own actions. We will be happy to help you understand your IC options if you are in an unfortunate IC situation. We take steps to provide alternative, IC options to PK situations but we will not save you from something you caused. We will not take pity on canonical ignorance: the books have been available for twenty years and there is a plethora of online content to read for free. That you didn't read the books is just too bad. If you have participated in a scene in which you suspect there has been mis-use or a lack of understanding of the v20 mechanics you can have your scene "patched up" so to speak by sending a log of it to staff and we will help you out and find a way to resolve the mishap. 'Player Run Plots' We want people to feel free to entertain themselves and their friends using PrPs. There are three tools you can use to help you along: the +events code (+help events), the TP Submission Form (+help tp), and Anonymous ST bits (+ST). You can use these tools in any productive way you see fit, or you can ignore them. We encourage player run plots and reward running these plots with XP: send a log in to byrightofbloodstaff@gmail.com and +2 XP will go to all participants and +3 XP to the storyteller. Remember that you will need to notify staff that an email has been sent. There are some plots which need approval by your sphere admin. If you want to assume an anonymous ST bit, you can. All you need is to have an approved alt. On that alt, type "+sts" and you will see instructions. An anonymous ST bit is just an official little character bit on a list. It has no special staff powers; it just opens up the opportunity for players to step in and out of STing as they please. Plots need approval if: *It impacts an influential sector of mortal influence (Example: The Police Chief is dominated to Bob's will, The DOT shuts down a major highway). Well have to check that nobody else is running something that would impact, first. *A section of Miami or room which you do not personally own is an essential factor. Well want to go to the people who own/live there and inform you who you should involve. *A canonical character is involved. Talk to the sphere admin to see if that NPC is booked. *A non-canonical NPC whose concept suggests s/he can act with impunity or override decisions made by PCs or staff-NPCs is involved. This is to defend that which the player characters have earned through RP and XP and circumvent OOCly motivated shenanigans. *The plot involves supernatural interests from other games (Werewolf, Mage, etc.) or takes place largely outside of Miami. This is to defend against game imbalance and maintain the game's focus as a Vampire game in freakin' Miami. Elements from other games are allowed, just not the focus. *The plot contradicts the game's official timeline. A PRP will be staff delegated if t exists to reward or avenge your character. These can be run, they just can't be run by you. 'Punishment' The following are punishments staffers may impose on an individual as they see fit. Failure to Accept IC Consequences *10 - 50 XP permanently removed, even if it takes you into the negatives. *A moratorium on playing your character. *Repeated offenses: +Freezing or stripping of the character. **Consequences of IC actions will be applied as normal. Metagaming/Powergaming *Permanently locked out of any code used to metagame. *Problem stats permanently lowered or a full, staff-decided restatting. *Moratoriums on XP expenditures of any nature. *Repeated offenses: +Freezing or stripping of the character. **STs will aid targeted PCs to reach positive character developments as a result of power/metagaming. **Consequences of IC actions will be applied as normal. Being An OOC Asshole *@speechmodded and gagged if not kicked off of the game for a day or two. *Repeated offenses: IP banned for however long is damn well necessary. 'Rape' So, you're going through a MUSH's newsfiles, and you see a news entry that talks about rape and you go "What the hell happened that there's a newsfile on rape?" For this game, nothing: it's just that there always seems to be one, so we're on the party train, too. So, in regards to rape as a storytelling mechanic on this game: It's not happening. Come up with something else. We don't care if you're such a good writer you'd make an angel weep. If you want to play rape go somewhere else. Rape scenes will not be included in the game's official story and will not be acknowledged. Ain't gonna bother with none of that nonsense. 'Wiki Content' Do not post links to torrents or free download sites on the wiki or copy and paste book content verbatim into the Wiki's pages. It will be deleted and your wiki privileges will be removed permanently. Do not post content on the wiki which would qualify as Mature. Yes, this game is a World of Darkness game, but the Wiki is viewable by anybody at all and needs to be presentable. General Character Policies 'Alts' You can play up to four characters on By Right of Blood. You can play across sects and play multiple alts in the same sect. You can not play the same clan more than once. You also can not play more than one leader. Both of these restrictions apply regardless of sect. It is possible to discontinue play of one character who is a leader in order to play another character who you intend to be a leader. However, in this case, you will be expected to wait 30 days before you can be approved on that second character. This is to discourage whimful alts jumping out of boredom which hurts RP and negatively impacts the players that you abandon when you decide to drop a leader character. You better REALLY want to do that shit. We do not approve alts unless at least 14 days have passed between their approvals. So, you can apply all 4 of your characters at once, they just won't be on the grid for 2 weeks. The caveats on waiting time are if you were asked to create the alt, if you're coming in with an established cell/pack, or if you're doing so to satisfy a plot arc. If, when you are making a character, you see that "Oh, X is open!" but decide to make Y and then come back to make X on your second character, you can not expect for us to save you a spot in X during your 14-day waiting period. If someone else is able to make a character, be it their first or their fourth, and they take 'X' while you're waiting between characters, too bad, so sad. You had a chance to make X and you passed it up. Better luck next time. If you send in a character history and sheet and you cancel that +Job out mid-processing by freezing your character before they're approved, we will make you wait two weeks before we approve your next character, including that character that you froze. Seriously, that is so annoying, stop it. 'Backgrounds' If you want to buy a Background, you earn it not through XP, but through wait times and rolling dice. During that period of time you are encouraged to pursue RP related to purchase of this background. Throw a +request in for the Background (+help request) and we will have you perform an extended roll where each roll represents a week's activity. You need to accumulate 1 success per level of Background that you wish to achieve, and the difficulty is 4 + Background Level. You can burn willpower on these rolls. A failure in one given day means you make no progress regardless of your efforts. A botch means that something went so wrong, you have to start all over. The imposed wait time will start the day that you sent in the +request. If you have a pending background job, a subsequent one will not be addressed until the pending background job is complete. You may not put in an additional request for a Background until an amount of weeks have passed equal to the level of the purchased Background. Backgrounds can also be rewarded through plots at ST discretion regardless of the status of ongoing or past background expenditures. 'Pooling Backgrounds' Some Backgrounds lend themselves to joint ownership. Specifically, the members of a group may choose to pool their individual stores of Allies, Contacts, Domain, Herd, Influence, Assets, Resources, and Retainers. Get An Anchor: You and the other players choose one Background as the anchor that holds the shared assets together. For example, this Background might be Domain, with the physical place the characters claim as their haven and for hunting, which also acts as a meeting ground for the mortals they deal with, a repository for their wealth, and so on. Any of the poolable Backgrounds can serve in this role, however: Herd might be this coteries key to sustenance and stability. No Background pool can have more dots assigned to it than the Anchor Background does at any time. If the Background is damaged by events during play or between sessions, other assets drift away from the characters control, and it takes effort to win them back. Any character contributing to the pool may pull his stake out at any time. The dislocations guarantee some damage: The character gets back one dot less than he put in. Pooled Backgrounds are designated with an asterisk on a character's list and their anchor is designated on that character's +Notes. Pooled Backgrounds are shared resources; essentially the coterie's or pack's communal property. Anyone who contributes to the pool (no matter how much he contributes) has equal access to it. Even if the character donates to only one of the pools associated Backgrounds, he still has equal access to it. Not everyone can use the pool simultaneously, though. A Herd pool of seven dots can grant access only to the same, finite number of vessels. Just how those points are split up depends on the circumstances and agreements between the characters. By pooling points, a coterie can get Backgrounds that surpass the normal five-dot limit (ten dots). This arrangement is normal, and it reflects the advantages of cooperation. A group can secure a larger domain or maintain a larger network of allies and contacts than a single vampire can. There is no absolute upper limit on the level to which a pooled Background can rise, but things can get downright ludicrous if you arent careful. How the backgrounds scale past a rating of 5 is up to contextual, ST discretion: they may escalate not in quantity, but in reliability, for example, if that is more appropriate. 'Character Death' Your spent XP dies with the character. Up to 30 points of your unspent XP can get transferred to another character you play, or a new character. This ceiling may be adjusted for votes, reccs, and other benefits of a good death scene. The individual who makes the call is the admin of the sphere the recipient character belongs to. The XP gets spent under the same limitations on normal XP spending (news xp), meaning you cant spend it all at once. If you choose to make a new character, it is possible to undergo chargen with a template in order to reflect the fact that you, as a player, have spent time and effort on this game and as such might qualify for a template. This is decided by the admin of the sphere to which this new character would belong. An admin may tell a player that they do not qualify for an XP transfer or a template for any reason whatsoever. The denying admin has the final call within their sphere and the player can not go above that admin for reconsideration: no is no. What you can do instead is apply to a different sphere with a different admin. 'Idle Policy' We expect participation amongst our players. Our XP system gives you XP when you pose, and so if you have no pose-XP activity for weeks on end, to us that is the same as not signing in for weeks on end and we can and will +freeze your character for failure to participate. We freeze characters who are idle (whether through not signing in or not RPing) after 30 days. We may delete, modify, or NPC-ify frozen character bits after 60 days. If you notify staff that you have to leave or can't RP due to RL situations then we will not delete your character or use them as a plot device. 'Lores' We do not use a Lores system. Your Occult score will be used on information checks with Lores. You may choose specialties such as Clan Nosferatu or Sabbat Lore but all Occult specialties, if they are pertinent to the World of Darkness canon (rather than, say, Wicca, Voodoo, and real-world knowledge considered to be of the occult), will have to do with Vampire and Vampire only. There will be no characters with Garou Lore specialties or Mage specialties or who just happen to know all about Changelings. If you, at some point in a storyline, are called on to make an Occult check for something which concerns non-Vampire canon (such as Werewolf or Changeling), it is the STs discretion whether you can make that check at all in the first place. It is also the STs discretion as to what the difficulty of the roll will be. A general rule of thumb is at least 8, since this knowledge is rare in the first place. 'Restatting' You are eligible for 1 total character sheet reset every six months if there has been a major policy change since the time of your "created" attribute (the time you made the account: type "e me/created" to see it). *March 20, 2013: Earliest approved character. *April 5, 2013: Introduced Age Templates. *July 1st, 2013: Expanded Influence System. *October 15th, 2013: Introduction of Gradiated Age Templates. *December 3, 2013: Finally got rid of those stupid templates. The intention of this offer is to make as many character sheets follow up-to-date versions and standards. This is not to change the concept that you created for character initially. This restatting applies to your sheet and your sheet only. You can't use a restatting to lower your generation, change your clan, or buy chargen-only merits/flaws. In order to get a character restatting, create a secondary bit called "ShirleyTempleReStat" and go into the CG. In the Prelude room, just fill out in the Goals section "I want to respecc my stats for ShirleyTemple", your intended major changes, and why you want it. 'Specialties' Specialties are free-form. The following are not legitimate specialties: *A fighting style, such as "boxing," "krav," "kung fu," etc. *Called shots. *"Fatal attacks," "lethal attacks," and "finishing moves". *Soaking and damage-taking related specialties do not exist. *Specialties applying to dealing damage do not exist. *"Dodging" as an Athletics specialty, although "close combat dodging" and "finding cover" are available. You can have specialties in specific expressions of a Discipline. You can pick a power and take that power as your specialty, such as a Medicine specialty in "Fleshcraft" or an Occult specialty in "Arms of the Abyss." You also can have specialties which are combat moves (except for 'called shots' and 'strikes') such as "Grappling," "Clinch," "Parry," and "Tackle." Specialties do not apply until you have raised a stat to 4, at which time a specialty opens up for free in CharGen. Subsequent specialties earned outside CharGen cost 3 XP. Academics, Crafts, Science, and Technology are the four Abilities which you can take a Specialty in before raising the stat in question to 4. The post-CharGen cost is still 3 XP. 'Spending XP' You can spend XP automatically (+ooc, then go to XP, Equipment and Assets, then go to the XP spending room). There, you can lift everything on your sheet except for out of clan disciplines, backgrounds, and willpower (see the newsfiles for each). These jobs are processed by staff (send in a +request) and you need to justify the spend by referring to what IC actions your character has taken or will take. Unless otherwise stated in their respective newsfiles, an individual player will wait 1 week between XP spends. In this XP spend, you can lift any trait by 1 or else spend your XP on 2 Abilities purchases, whether it is to raise the same ability twice or two abilities once. Purchases of traits through +Request count as an XP spends (including backgrounds), so, since we only let you do one at a time, if you put in a +request for something and also make an automated XP purchase in that given week, your job will not be processed until that week is over. If you feel that staff has made a mistake in processing an XP related job, you can type +xplog to see a record of your XP gain for your personal review. 'Willpower' Your Willpower goes up by 1 every day you sign in and, if you're a vampire, every time you hunt. When you want to raise your Willpower you need to do two things: *Do something harrowing, risky, and demanding of your mental resources. *Make sure that your Courage + SelfCon/Instinct is high enough. *Note: Your WP may be no higher than Courage + Self Control/Instinct. In chargen, your starting willpower may be no higher than 5 + 1/2 Courage, rounded. So, you need Courage 5 to have Willpower 8 and Willpower 8 is the highest that you're going in CG. Post-chargen, your Willpower is capped by Courage + SelfCon/Instinct, and those must be bought up first before we will let you buy more Willpower. So, if chargen left you with more Willpower than Courage + SelfCon/Instinct, you're going to have to bring up the ceiling or leave your Willpower as-is. In general, mortals may not start with more than 5 Willpower. Willpower 6 may be allowed in extraordinary cases. Vampire Policies 'Blood Bonds' Level 1 Blood Bond *Creates a mechanical effect like a Vinculum rating of 5. Level 2 Blood Bond *Creates a mechanical effect like a Vinculum rating of 8. *Thrall must roll Willpower to take directly harmful actions. *ALL social rolls against the thrall are at -1 difficulty. Level 3 Blood Bond *Creates a mechanical effect like a Vinculum rating of 10. *Regnant may use Dominate without eye contact, even over the phone. *Resisting Dominate or similar mental control is at +2 Difficulty. *A lower-generation Thrall is still immune to Dominate as normal. An individual under a full bond can only be bound to one regnant. The blood bond must naturally wear off or else be removed deliberately through magical vampire shenanigans. You can be subject to more than one blood bond if it is a level 1 or level 2 blood bond, but as soon as you get a level 3 blood bond, everything is out the window and you have the Bieber Fever for your regnant. The Blood Bond is actually stronger than the Vinculum. (p 49, Archons & Templars). So, the mechanics listed above are specific to blood bonds, not vinculum scores. Sect-wide vaulderies don't do anything for you because the blood pool is so very diluted. They're more for show and as an excuse to weigh the outcomes against targeted individuals. (P 51, Archons & Templars, Nadia talking about Nevareese). Preventing and Removing Blood Bonds: A Vaulderie can remove a blood bond but a blood bond can not erase a Vinculum. A Vinculum can not prevent a new blood bond from being formed (p 104, Archons and Templars). So, if you drink somebody's blood, it doesn't matter if you have a Vinculum of 10 to that guy, you're getting bound. A Vaulderie can remove a blood bond if the bound ingests 6 points of vitae (this does not mean that the Vaulderie has to be with 6 people, it just has to provide the appropriate amount of blood) while they have 1 point of vitae left in their system. This does cause risk of frenzy, or outright frenzy if you are on a Path of Enlightenment that replaces your Virtues. But hey, it makes your whites whiter than they've ever been! A thrall who neither sees nor feeds from her regnant for a period of (12 - Willpower) months finds her bond reduced by one level. So, over time, you can erode the blood bond like a bad crack addiction. If you aren't able to do that, you could always try to kill the regnant! 'Blood Magic' Below you will find the various paths of Blood Magic that will appear in the possession of some of the clans on the MUX. Because of the exhaustive amount of rituals available, they will not be listed here. Instead, queries about rituals may be asked of staff. The Primary path for each type will be listed where needed. Also, you may not use Additional Discipline to learn any type of Blood Magic. If a Path does not appear in a list here, assume it is not available. : Sabbat Thaumaturgy *Out of Clan For EVERYONE, Must have Teacher *Available: The Path of Mars and The Path The Father's Vengeance. *Father's Vengance is NOT available for better than 10th Gen. : Dark Thaumaturgy *Infernalist, Out of Clan For everyone, Need Infernal Teacher *Available: The Fires Of The Inferno (with rare exception, this will be your primary path), The Path of Phobos, and the Taking of the Spirit. *Dark Thaumaturgy is not available to players who have not been a part of the game for at least 3 months. : Wanga *Serpents of the Light ONLY, at Out Of Clan XP Cost, Need Teacher *Available: Spirit Manipulation*, Path of Blood, Path of Corruption, Path of Curses, The Dry Nile/Blinding Chungo, Zarabanda's Malice/Serpent Within, Flow of Ashe, Orisha's Fortune and Voice of the Wild. : Necromancy *In Clan for Giovanni *Available: Necromancy (this will, with rare exception, be your primary path), The Ash Path, The Bone Path... and The Cenotaph Path if you are a Ghiberti. 'Thaumaturgy' : Common Paths to all Tremere: The Path of Blood, The Lure of the Flames, Movement of the Mind, Thaumaturgical Countermagic, and The Hearth Path. : Uncommon Paths: Biothaumaturgy, Oneiromancy, Mastery of the Mortal Shell, The Path of Curses, Path of the Blood's Curse, and Spirit Manipulation. : Rare Paths: Path of Shadowcrafting, Alchemy, The Focused Mind, Gift of Morpheus, Path of Corruption, and Technomancy. Rare and Uncommon paths are not available in the Automated Chargen. To get them, add in a generic Thaumaturgy rating during Chargen as a placeholder. If you want more than one of the restricted paths, purchase points in different Common paths as placeholders. That way, you can differentiate what should be rated at what. *An Uncommon Path can not be a Primary Path without justification. *A Rare Path must be Tertiary unless there is justification. *Rare Paths are unavailable if 2+ characters on grid know it already. *Uncommon Paths are closed if 6+ characters on grid know it already. *These restrictions apply individually. The cap grows with the pbase. *If a Path is not available in CG, you still can learn it ICly. 'Rituals' A character begins play with a single 1st level ritual at character creation. Further rituals must be learned via a research process. Learning Thaumaturgical rituals: '''These are learned according to News Backgrounds with an Intelligence + Occult roll and have an additional imposed wait time between +requests: a number of weeks equal to the ritual level. The roll will be made at a difficulty of 4+The Ritual's Level. As soon as you have nailed the roll, the Ritual shall be yours to use. However, you may not request another ritual until the appropriate time has passed. So, if you learn a level 5 ritual, you might nail the roll in a week and be able to use it, but it will be five weeks before you can request another one. '''Creating rituals: To create a ritual, you need knowledge in the Path at least one dot higher than that needed to learn the ritual. You must spend some months in research, working on perfecting the new ritual, so, for purposes of creating a ritual, you will need to accumulate 2 successes per level, not 1 success. At the end of this, you must achieve at least 3 successes in a DC 9 Intelligence + Occult roll to successfully create this ritual which will be comprehensible and useful to others; otherwise, it's back to the drawing board. An astounding success (6+ successes) may result in a ritual which is somehow exceptional, such as requiring lowered Path knowledge or having additional benefits. A botch means anything up to the storyteller. Teamwork can be used to expedite a ritual but their botches impact the entire group. Rituals which piggyback off of existing rituals may have a lower DC at ST discretion. 'Communal Havens' If you want your character and associated pack to be linked to a certain location on the map which is not a typical rental space, all you need to do is ask staff. Please note that we will not lock your communal haven against people being able to enter it. 'Cross Sect RP' Our game has enemy sects. You probably did not come here to have your character antagonized or killed by a metagaming jackass. We aim to achieve a setting where enemy sects remain enemy sects but also where the nature of a social game necessitates a different execution in terms of story and direction. There will be no plot arcs/devices designed solely for cross-sect violence or antagonization, except as a consequence for in-character, PC-driven actions. There will be no building on the grid where everybody leaves their weapons at the door in a nonsensical agreement to disagree despite a centuries old rivalry. The A1A gridsquare (the location that the "IC" exit in the OOC lobby leads to) is neutral territory in that it belongs to nobody and will forever belong to nobody but NPCs. It is literally a causeway and a buffer zone between sects which you may use to RP across sects if you wish, but at your own risk. We instruct Camarilla players to pose as Anarchs if they are discovered as vampires to protect not only their character but their entire sect. If you cross into the other side of the map, you will see a warning message play. This does not mean you are forbidden as a player to RP in the other city. It means you literally have been warned because we are a game where you can lose your character to the consequences of his actions. This policy does not make provisions for 'safe zones' or levels of consent, which do not exist. This policy just states "If you want to protect yourself, stay in your city since it's safer there, and don't broadcast that you're a vampire." In the end, consequences are consequences and staff will not protect you from your own actions. Lastly, do not use Auspex commands on strangers just to figure out if they're a vampire. Your character literally has no good reason for doing that because vampires represent less than 1 percent of the population of the entirety of Miami Dade County and to run into another one is so statistically improbable that auspexing someone over a vague reference or because they're pale is asinine. All you're doing is telling the other guy you're a metagamer who wants to figure out someone else is a vampire and telling staff that we need to strip you of your ability to use code that helps you metagame. 'Derangements' If you get a derangement due to a Path/Humanity degeneration roll, you can get rid of the derangement by buying your Path/Humanity rating back up. The derangement in place will come back if ever your rating sinks back to the level that you incurred the derangement at. 'Detecting Vampires' To find out if someone is a walking corpse, perform an extended Perception + Medicine Roll against difficulty 7 (unless IC circumstances should lower or heighten it) and score five total successes. If your target elects to spend 8-Humanity blood points before you accumulate 5 successes (whether at the beginning of the scene or even in the middle of the rounds during the extended roll!), then your efforts are in vain because it only takes blood point expenditure to look, act, and feel just like a real boy. If you do not follow Humanity, you can not actually pull off any 'disguise' regardless of exceptional circumstances unless you specifically have an ability that says, "This will let you pass as human!" because you are so far removed from the idea of being a human and have fallen so out of touch that you can not properly impersonate them, if it even occurs to you in the first place to do such a thing, due to how alien the nuances of human habits have become to you. You can't buy points in some Masquerade-related skill and counter-roll to keep the character from being "outed." There is no roll, just blood point expenditure. Those NOT on Humanity have no defense and thus should be careful. As for a mechanic to resolve whether a character notices ICly that they're being "scoped," it is a contested Perception + Empathy (vampire) versus Wits + Subterfuge (suspicious person). Points in Awareness don't give any bonuses in Spot-A-Vamp rolls, but you can roll Perception + Awareness at a +2 difficulty in place of Perception + Medicine (whose default difficulty is 7). 'Diablerie' Diablerie arcs are legitimate story arcs. However, they can not be run by the player of the character to commit the diablerie. The player also needs to be prepared for the consequences if someone discovers the black veins in their aura, which will be made present. Diablerie arcs are a legitimate way to lower your Generation if you succeed. The lowest you can take your Generation, whether as a staff alt or as a player, is 7th Generation. 6th generation and lower characters are NPCs. If you somehow are in a wild and crazy situation where there's a low generation vampire in your lap, you can shove a crazy straw in him if you're that ambitious, but you have two options: 1. Commit your character to be an NPC and turn him over to staff or 2. Just go for the plot arc part of it all and remain at 7th generation at the lowest. In addition to potentially lowering someone's generation by the v20 mechanics, Diablerie opens up the ability for that character to purchase in-clan disciplines without a tutor. They do not, however, grant automagic discipline dots, whether permanent or temporary. Diablerie veins show for 1 year per generation removed (so 2 years for a 12th gen diabbing a 10th gen) and they put off a "weird" vibe for 1 month x generation removed. To detect it takes a Perception roll against a difficulty of 12 - sensing vampire's Humanity. So, if you're not on Humanity, you can't detect the Heebie Jeebies that being so close to a recent commiter of diablerie provides. It leaves sensitive kindred unsettled in your presence. 'Eye Contact' A target trying to avoid eye contact can make a Willpower roll against a difficulty equal to the Dominate user's Manipulation+Intimidation (or other appropriate combinations for other Disciplines or specific situations, at the Storyteller's discretion). The difficulty may be reduced for mitigating factors: -1 in the case of the target obscuring his eyes slightly (such as closing her eyes or wearing dark sunglasses) up to a -3 for the eyes being completely unseen (such as with a thick blindfold or having her eyes torn out). Ultimately, however, it is up to the Storyteller to decide whether eye contact is established in a particular case. 'IC Embraces' V20 says, "When you become a vampire, you get a 7/5/3 13/9/5 +3 disciplines point spread that you get out of magical pony land." By Right of Blood does not advance a newly Embraced mortal to a Vampire template. Instead, follow the rules below. *'Disciplines': Maximum 3 purchased at cost for in- or out-of-clan. Disciplines purchased as a ghoul remain. *'Generation': Determined by your Sire. *'Merits/Flaws': Supernatural options can be purchased at cost. *'Mortal-only Stats': Discuss with Admins about reimbursement. 'Packs' Packs need to have 3 or more members in it to be a pack. If one of those members becomes inactive, the pack is considered defunct and the +Packs listing updates automatically. If you get a third pack member without transferring to another pack then your pack will return to the Active Packs list. Create a Pack by either applying into a pack during Chargen, by +request, or by using +pack code (+help packs). You can join a pack by contacting the leader of a pack, as pack leaders have the ability to add and remove others from their pack through the +pack code. 'Ritae' Rolls related to learning or creating new Ritae are Intelligence + Occult. You can not submit a +Job related to the learning or creation of a ritual if you have an outstanding job related to ritae. To learn existing ritae, first get the appropriate rating of Rituals, then +request the ritus by name. Creating New Ritae: 'You require a Rituals Background score of 3 or higher. Roll Intelligence + Occult and accumulate an amount of successes designated by a Storyteller. Once you complete this roll, you've gotten enough practice and research to perform a test run. Seal the deal with a DC 8 Intelligence + Occult roll and get 3 successes. If you don't get 3 successes, the Ritus works unpredictably or not at all, and whatever the difference is between 3 and the amount of successes you got is the amount of additional weeks needed to do more research and practice (the amount of time you have to wait to try again). You can try again before this time is up, but the DC goes to 10 unless the necessary wait time passes and if you botch, the Storyteller decides what happens. New Ritae can be recorded and put up in a listing on the game for other players' use. 'Torpor When a character enters Torpor, the dormancy duration follows the Torpor chart in V20, p. 283. A torpored vampire is immediately removed from grid and unapproved to prevent XP accumulation. We further handle matters as below: *'0 Blood Points': You are restored from torpor and reapproved upon receiving 1+ blood point. *'Freezering': You will be permanently unapproved and frozen when you torpor due to injury and your Path/Humanity is less than 6; or you voluntarily torpor and your Path/Humanity is less than 5. The hibernation times simply exceed the IC timeframe of the game to allow your feasible return. *'Witnesses': Any scene concluding in your long-term torpor will be reviewed by staff upon request. 'Vicissitude' Major physical changes to your character or another caused by Vicissitude (including Malleable Visage and Fleshcraft) must be witnessed by an ST or logged in a +job. Storytellers will determine the appropriate difficulty for the task. Major changes include: *Changes to Appearance score. XP cost must be paid for increases. *Any change that replicates a Merit or Flaw, like "Huge Size" or "Disfigured." *Removing a Flaw or Merit. *Major height or weight changes. *Copying another PC or NPC's appearance. *Disguises lasting more than a scene. *Changes for an Alternate ID. *Changes to avoid a hunt. Exempted changes: *Purely cosmetic changes that last a scene. *Cosmetic changes that do not change appearance to a degree the AlternateID background is required. *Minor, temporary alterations to NPCs. 'Vinculum' A Vinculum works differently than a blood bond. A Vinculum doesn't mean that you have to LIKE the individual you have a rating to, it means that you are compelled to be loyal to them. An individual is normally allowed to question someone's authority and act antagonistically in general out of spite where these actions do not compromise sect secrets, assets, or personal safety. However you are expected (under normal circumstances with no attempt to resist made) to comply with the following, per rating: *'1 - 3': No hard obligations. *'4': If you are asked to aid an individual and there is no risk involved, aid them. *'5': If you are asked to aid this individual and only risk involved is financial or social risk with minor or short-term consequences, aid them. *'6': No more scheming against this individual's personal safety. Fight for the individual unless you know it's suicide or the other person is intimidating (mechanically). Aid the individual even at financial or social risk unless it's going to ruin your future or endanger your assets. *'7': Kill for someone. *'8': Use your backgrounds (the ones on your sheet) to benefit another when needed/asked. *'9': Disregard your IC fear of an individual you go up against (fighting or otherwise) to protect the individual. Accept and perform a task despite it putting you in great danger. *'10': Take a bullet for them, whether or not literally, and whether or not it will take your life. This list of obligations applies even if your character would not do that because it's not "IC" for him or her, and even if your character follows a Path that says explicitly, on a fundamental level, not do do it. Choosing Sides: '''Sometimes a character will need to choose sides between characters who have Vinculum ratings. In this case, decide what party you would side with if the Vinculum were not a factor. That party receives a difficulty of five and the competition receives a difficulty of 7. Next, roll a number of dice, for each individual in the conflict, equal to your Vinculum score for each party. Whoever has the greatest number of successes wins. When the issue is against your Path rating, represent yourself with a dice pool of 5 + Conscience at a difficulty of 5. '''Resisting the Vinculum: Resisting the Vinculum works similar to resisting a Frenzy. Using an extended roll, you must accumulate a number of successes equal to your Vinculum rating for that individual at Difficulty 8, rolling Willpower each turn until you extinguish the compulsion. A Botch means you cave immediately. Those affected can use Willpower points to overcome the effects for a turn, just like putting off the impulses of a frenzy, but they must continue spending Willpower every turn for as long as they remain in the same occasion that is causing the conflict. Mortal and Ghoul Policies 'Ghouling' If another player character feeds you their vitae, you are a ghoul! Send in a +request for conversion and you will get a fancy Vitae pool you can spend, 1 free point of Potence, and the ability to learn your Regnant's disciplines under their tutelage (following the rules described in 'out of clan disciplines,' including wait times because if you are an XP hoarder you shouldn't learn this stuff faster than a vampire!). We need to know the name of your Regnant and the date of your ghouling because that needs to be kept up with or else you lose your super ghouly powers in 30 days! 'Vitae Cramming' For each point of Stamina a ghoul has, she can cram an extra blood point into her body. For each point, however, she must make a Stamina check (difficulty 8). If she succeeds, she may use the excess blood normally. This is NOT actually coded in: please police yourselves. If she fails, she suffers one point of lethal damage per blood point above her maximum. Moreover, the excess blood can't be used. It takes a full scene of vomiting to burn off such "useless" blood points; until this takes place, the ghoul cannot use any blood points whatsoever. You can not raise your Stamina level with the blood to raise the ceiling for your Vitae cramming.